Click here to read the daily readings from the USCCB website. 

If you have taken classes on workplace safety or safe driving practices, the word “complacency” often comes up. When we do a repetitive task, it’s tempting to become too comfortable or overconfident in or abilities. If we have never been injured while working or experienced a collision in a car, we may be lulled into a false sense of security that it can never happen to us.

In our 1^st reading today we hear about a different kind of complacency. In John’s Book of Revelation, the Lord is sending messages to the members of the early churches in Sardis and Laodicea. As it turns out, the feedback they are receiving may be even more relevant in our time. Jesus chastises the Laodiceans for being lukewarm, neither hot nor cold. Their behavior is making Him sick and declares he “will spit you out of My mouth”. These are pretty strong words from the Risen Lord and serve as a warning for all of us. The Scripture Commentary I read described the Laodiceans as smugly complacent. They lived a very comfortable lifestyle that provided a deceptive self-satisfaction. Their material prosperity may have encouraged them to forget about God and lived a docile faith that neither offended or challenged anyone…certainly a situation we must all defend against.

In contrast to the Laodiceans, we also have the example from Saint Elizabeth of Hungary this morning. She was born to the King of Hungary in the 13^th century. She was married at the age of 14 and had 3 children. Under the spiritual direction of a Franciscan friar, she led a life of prayer, sacrifice and service to the poor and sick. After 6 years of marriage, her husband died in the Crusades. Her husband’s family did not agree with her charity work and forced her out of the palace. She joined a Secular Franciscan Order and spent the few remaining years of her life caring for the poor in a hospital she founded. She died before her 24^th birthday in 1231.

The passage from Revelations ends with a message of love and hope. Jesus gives us the beautiful image of Him standing at our door and knocking. “If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, then I will enter his house and dine with him…”

As we wait for Jesus to knock on our door, let us ask for the intercession of St. Elizabeth to stay alert and live a faith that no one will describe as lukewarm.